Michael Jackson Biography

Michael, the seventh of nine children, gave his first public performance when he was 5 - he sang 'Climb Every Mountain' for his nursery school class. After this performance his father Joseph finally let him be a part of his brothers band. So the Jackson 5 finally got completed. After years of practicing for hours after school, entering talent shows (they won everyone they took place in) and playing in clubs on the weekends the J5 finally got signed to Motown Records.


Soon Michael started to record solo besides singing and recording with his brothers. 'Got To Be There' was the first solo record by Michael Jackson on Motown and has been released in 1972. Songs like 'Got To Be There', 'I Wanna Be Where You Are', 'Rockin' Robin' and 'Ben' were Michaels first solo hits.


In 1976 the Jackson brothers (except Jermaine) left Motown and signed with Epic Records to get more freedom in their work. Michael releases his first solo album on Epic called 'Off The Wall' in 1979. The set was produced by Quincy Jones and co-produced by Michael himself. 'Off The Wall' was the first step by Michael to become the biggest star of all time. It broke music industry records by being the first album ever to bring out four Top Ten Singles in the US, two of which became number 1 hits and sold over 12 million copies worldwide. 'Thriller' the follow up album was released in December 1982.



This album broke about every music industry record there is and became the most successful album of all time by selling over 51 million copies worldwide and still growing. This masterpiece includes 7 hit singles including 4 written by Michael himself. 'Thriller' is certified Platinum in 15 countries, Gold in 4 more and received 7 Grammy Awards. Michael released 3 amazing video clips to promote 'Thriller'. The most spectacular video is propably the title track itself, directed by John Landis.


The video 'The Making Of Michael Jackson's Thriller' sold over 500,000 copies in its first month. It took Michael 5 years to release his next album 'Bad' in 1987, not because Mr. Jackson was lazy, but because he recorded the album 'Victory' together with his brothers and went on a spectacular sold out world tour with them.


'Bad' released only 4 months before year's end of 1987 became the best selling album of '87 in Britain and the US (in the United States it became the best selling album in '88, too). Another record the album set is reaching the number 1 spot in 25 countries all over the world, 'Bad' also included 5 #1 hits.
Michael kicked off his first solo world tour, the 'Bad Tour' in 1987 in Japan.


This tour received great reviews ("The Greatest Show On Earth" - Daily Mirror) and was a mega success.
'Dangerous' was released in November 1991. It's the fastest selling #1 album of all time and entered #1 only 3 days after it's release in the US. The first single taken from 'Dangerous' is the song 'Black Or White' that caused a lot of attention because of it's dancing scenes at the end.


And again Michael went on a world tour. This time the tour kicked off in Munich, Germany and was even more spectacular than the 'Bad' tour.


The 'Dangerous' tour included loads of special effects and even a magic element during the song 'Thriller' created by none other than David Copperfield.


Michael released his first double cd set 'HIStory: Past, Present & Future' in 1995. This set contains one cd with 'Greatest Hits' and another one with all new material. The first single taken from 'HIStory' is a duet with his sister Janet, 'Scream'. 'HIStory' sold over 14 million double albums and included the #1 Hit 'You're Not Alone' written by R. Kelly, the abum also includes many other songs that became hits. Once again each single released came along with an excellent and outstanding video clip for it's promotion.


Michael went on tour with his 'HIStory' show and fascinated the world once again with an outstanding and perfect stage show. The 'HIStory' show is probably the most extravagant show ever with it's spectacular special effects and breathtaking highlights like the great choreography and a real tank on stage!


MJ's latest album is a remix CD called 'Blood On The Dancefloor - HIStory In The Mix'. 'Blood On The Dancefloor' contains 5 new songs, including the chart topping title track, and remix versions of Michael's songs from the album 'HIStory'.